Cowpassion

This year I went to a beautiful place in Idaho to a girls camp. It was peaceful and beautiful. On the afternoon of the 2nd day some ranchers dropped off a herd of cows on the border of our camp land. The mooing from the cows was incredibly load. Our camp was situated in a bowl shaped valley. The noise carried as if we were in an amphitheater. By bedtime most of the cows had calmed down, but every once in a while one or two cows would bellow. These weren't average moo's, these were throat gurgling hollers. We all had a hard time sleeping. I was so angry with the cows, I just wanted to sleep!

The next morning I was talking to a sleep-deprived camp leader. We laughed about the annoying cows. As I was headed out of the room I jokingly exclaimed "What could they possibly be saying to each other!?!" I turned my back to walk out and I heard the leader say "You don't know?". Surprised, I turned and walked back to the leader. "No, I don't know" I said. She explained to me that the cows were mooing because their babies were just taken away from them when they were dropped off the day before. The momma cows were running all over the place frantically trying to find their lost babies. She said that after a few days they would stop trying to find their calves. This separation was necessary so that the moms milk supply would dry up in time to become pregnant again that fall.

My heart sank.  I walked out of the building bothered and sad. Then I heard a cow bellow. I could hear the despair in her voice. What once was annoying was now heartbreaking. All that day and through the next night I listened to those momma cows searching for their calves. I thought of my 2 year old son, I had compassion for these cows. I mourned with them.

Once I learned the reason behind the cows behavior my attitude changed. I thought about how we judge other people. If we took a moment to realize the reason of another's actions we would have compassion on the person. We may never know why some people act a certain way, but that doesn't mean there isn't a reason, it's just invisible to us. I believe this is why the Lord teaches us not to judge, but to love instead.

Thank you cows for your lesson. I'm sorry for your loss.